Name: Rice and Black Bean Enchiladas
Ingredients: 1 medium onion, chopped; 1 medium-size green pepper, seeded and chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 3 cups cooked rice; 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce, divided; 1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed; 1 14-1/2-ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained; 1 24-ounce jar salsa, divided; 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, divided; 16 flour tortillas; Toppings:; avocado slices; nonfat sour cream; green onions, sliced

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Rice + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,017 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice: Bulks up the filling and absorbs moisture from the sauces, keeping it soft rather than watery.
Black beans: Add body and substance to the filling, holding its shape when rolled inside the tortillas.
Enchilada sauce: Supplies moisture and savory flavour that softens the tortillas as they bake.
Cheese: Melts into the filling and topping, binding the rolls and adding richness and browning.
Flour tortillas: Act as the wrapper that holds the filling and softens while baking in the sauce.
Onion: Softens and sweetens as it cooks, forming the aromatic base of the filling.

The step that matters

Cover with foil before the first bake. Foil traps steam so the tortillas soften and the filling heats through evenly; uncovered, the tops can dry and toughen before the centre is hot.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, garlic, rice, sauce, beans, tomato):

Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, garlic, rice, sauce, beans, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Enchilada	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Topping	not in our table	0

Rice and Black Bean Enchiladas